The present invention relates to the use of the Internet, and in particular, to the manner in which information available on the World Wide Web is formatted for presentation to a user.
One of the most remarkable applications of technology we have seen in recent years is the World Wide Web, often known simply as the xe2x80x9cwebxe2x80x9d. Nonexistent only a few short years ago, it has suddenly burst upon us. People from schoolchildren to the elderly are learning to use the web, and finding an almost endless variety of information from the convenience of their homes or places of work. Businesses, government, organizations, and even ordinary individuals are making information available on the web, to the degree that it is now the expectation that anything worth knowing about is available somewhere on the web.
Although a great deal of information is available on the web, accessing this information can be difficult and time consuming, as any web user knows. Self-styled prophets of web technology have predicted no end of practical and beneficial uses of the web, if only problems of speed and ease of use can be solved. Accordingly, a great deal of research and development resources have been directed to these problems in recent years. While some progress has been made in the form of faster hardware, browsers which are more capable and easier to use, and so on, much improvement is still needed.
Nearly all web browsers follow the paradigm of a user visually examining web content presented on a display. I.e., typically a user sits in front of a computer display screen, and enters commands to view web pages presented by the user""s browser. A great deal of effort is expended in the formatting of web pages for proper visual appeal and ease of understanding. The browser may run in a window, so that the user may switch back and forth from the browser to some other tasks running in other windows. But it is usually expected that when the user is viewing a web page in the browser, his entire attention will be directed thereto, and other tasks will be foreclosed.
Because the web evolved out of the world of computers, it was natural that web interfaces for users evolve from computer interfaces, specifically, computer graphics presentation. While this paradigm has its place, it severely limits the potential applications for the use of web information. In general, there has been a lack of recognition of the fact that there is a great deal of information available on the web, which need not be presented to the user in such a manner. Specifically, much of the information available on the web could be audibly presented to a web user. Audible presentation has the advantage of not requiring the user""s undivided attention. Moreover, if means for facilitating audible presentation of web content were more readily available, it is likely that additional web content directed to this use might become available.
Audible presentation of certain web content is known, but the capabilities of existing audible presentation are primitive. Scattered audio clips are imbedded in some web pages. These clips may be selected from a browser, with the result that the audio is played at the user""s workstation. Not only is the information content thus available extremely limited, but like other web content intended for presentation from a browser executing on a workstation, it is expected that such audio clips will be played while the user""s full attention is directed to the browser session on the interactive workstation.
An unrecognized need exists for alternative methods and apparatus for presenting web content to the user, which are less disruptive of other tasks in which the user may be engaged. Specifically, an unrecognized need exists for methods and apparatus supporting improved and more extensive audible presentation of web content.
In accordance with the present invention, a web server supports a client choice of audio or standard video presentation of essentially the same web content. A client passes information requesting web content in a specific form, and the web server responds with the appropriate form.
In the preferred embodiment, a new HTML tag xe2x80x9caudiatexe2x80x9d is defined. An audiate tag in the HTML stream of a web page indicates how an audio version of the web content will be constructed, and optionally indicates the conditions under which the audio version will be played to the user. Specifically, the audiate tag may include one or more optional parameters, among which are one specifying a wave file containing audio content, one specifying HTML elements to be converted to audio, and one specifying a time interval for repeating the audio presentation.
In the preferred embodiment, the client passes a newly defined argument to the URL (called xe2x80x9cpagetypexe2x80x9d) when requesting a web page. The pagetype may specify that the client wants text only, audio only, or wants both audio and text. In addition, the pagetype may specify whether an audibly formatted version of the page should be sent in the absence of an audiate HTML statement.
The alternative audio format of a web page has many potential uses. Web page content may be audibly presented in the background of a workstation while the user is working on other tasks, specifically, may be audibly presented at intervals or when content changes. Web page content may be transmitted to a special portable device, which has limited or no video display capabilities, for audio presentation while the user is driving a car, walking, gardening, performing chores, etc. Web page content may be audibly presented to visually impaired individuals. Simultaneous audible and visual presentation of the same content may be useful for individuals learning to read, or for learning a second language. Numerous other potential uses may exist.